Shipwrecked
by XBlue-PhoenixX
Summary: When Subaru ends up stranded on a unregistered planet after a teleportation mishap and it is up to Tiana to go save her. An odd planet with strange locals makes the normal rescue a hair-raising adventure. Subaru/Tia
1. The Fallen

Lost

By: XBlue-PhoenixX

The 245th Emergency Response Squadron huddled over their commander dressed in their standard brown uniforms

The 245th Emergency Response Squadron huddled over their commander, dressed in their standard brown uniforms. A grand total of ten members all waited nervously for their long-range teleportation portal to be ready. Young technicians hustled around them writing down scrolls and casting safety augments.

Corporal Subaru Nakajima smiled widely, practically radiating excitement. Having been briefed on the extreme cold of the planet ahead she had wisely chosen to wear slacks instead of her normal skirt.

"All right, listen up!"

It was her commander, a middle aged mage with brown hair. "Here are our orders. We are to head out using a teleportation portal to the planet Terra. Recent large-scale seismic activity has placed over two hundred endangered magical creatures at risk. Our job is to go out there and save as many as we can before the whole place blows and turns into an oven."

"Yes Sir!" his troops shouted, before splitting up into three groups of three members each.

"After reaching check point alpha we will be detailed on our targets, so stay on your toes people!"

"Portal is complete sir!" the head technician called out from one of the catwalks. "You can head out when ever your squad is ready."

"Alright. 245th ERS move out!" he barked the order.

"We get to see all sorts of exotic creatures! This is going to be so cool!" Subaru whispered to her friend and teammate, Haruka Reito.

"Subaru, keep your head in the game. Those creatures are also living a ticking time bomb!" the brunette hissed. "Come on let's move!" and with that, she and Subaru charged into the bright green portal.

A rush of colors turned the purple haired woman's stomach before she was shot out of the portal and into the open skies; several hundred feet above the ground.

"Mach Caliber: Set-Up!"

In a bright flash of blue Subaru reappeared, garbed in her Barrier Jacket and device.

"Wing Road!" she shouted forcefully.

"Stand by:" came the synthesized voice. "Cannot complete task. Scanning: large number of AMF like waves in atmosphere."

"What?" Subaru shouted in surprise. "Mach Caliber, Cyborg Mode release!"

"Cyborg Mode!"

Teal eyes turned gold as a circular magic field appeared. A digital Wing Road shot out from Subaru's roller blades, stopping her decent.

"That would have been really bad." She huffed looking nervously over the edge of the magical platform.

"Error. Cyborg systems not able to maintain magical out-put, partner!"

"Oh crap!" Looking down, Subaru's eyes widened as Wing Road dissolved and she began her decent once again.

Mach Caliber flashed, "Protection." The sound of trees exploding filled the Fungala forest.

--

"Enforcer Langster please report to Commander Nakajima's office immediately. I repeat. Will Enforcer..."

Tiana Langster looked up at the ceiling, an eyebrow cocked curiously. "I wonder what he needs...?" she mused, logging off the terminal she had been finishing her report on.

As an up and coming Enforcer, Tia had been making a name for herself as a efficient and sharp agent. With the kind guidance she received from Fate, Tia quickly got a hold of the ropes and was in line for a promotion very soon.

Quickly fixing her black uniform, she ran a hand through her long orange hair as she began the short walk to Nakajima's office.

"Sir." She saluted walking into the spacious room. Taking the offered seat, Tia politely declined the offer for tea.

"Ah, Tia, how have you been?" Nakajima asked, his mouth smiling but his tinged with sadness.

"Fine, sir. I'm just about finished wrapping up the last report on the illegal seal trafficking bust." She answered curtly in her typically uptight fashion.

"Very good. But Tia, haven't I told you that you don't need to be so uptight around me?" he asked, cracking one eye open with a small smile.

Blushing Tia looked down, "Yes sir."

Laughing at her slip up, he leaned back, "I guess some formality can't be helped now, can it?"

"Um, Nakajima-san, why was I called down here?" Tia asked, fighting the rosy color that was staining her face.

"HQ has given you a new priority assignment." He sent over a window with official orders written on it. "It seems that ERS has a emergency of their own and they are requesting help to solve the situation. During a routine teleportation, three members from the 245th squadron never reappeared at the landing site. The last known signal was sent a day ago from Unregistered Planet 20095KGI, in the fourth quadrant."

"So they want me to research the situation and come up with a plan of action?" Tia asked, slipping into Enforcer mode.

"No, they want you to complete the assignment. Given your history as an Enforcer, as well as your history in Section Six, HQ has decided that you would be best suited to solve this situation." Nakajima sighed.

Tia nodded slightly, "Alright. I confirm that the orders were received." Gathering all the information into Cross Mirage she stood to leave.

"Tia, please be careful. I would be crippled if I learned that something happened to you as well." Nakajima said, hanging his head.

"Me as well?" Tia asked, turning around. Instead of the imposing sight the Commander typically gave off, the vision of an old man hunched over greeted her eyes.

"Subaru... She was one of the people who went missing," he choked. "I didn't want to give this assignment to you but, HQ gave me direct orders."

"S-subaru?" Tia stammered. Her head hung in shock as images of the exuberant woman flashed in her mind.

"I want to get her back as much as you do, but please don't do anything rash. This mission doesn't have a high success rate."

"What do you mean?" Tia asked, sitting back down.

"Despite several attempts by the TSAB to get a unit on the surface, all of these attempts have failed. No one has figured out why yet. They have learned from satellites that the natives call the planet Fungala, and that the inhabitants are elf-like creatures we have dubbed Galla's,"

"So what you're saying is that this mission is impossible from the start?" Tia spoke dejectedly, angry tears forming in her eyes.

"No. Not impossible, but gruelingly difficult"

Tia looked up, a fire burning in her blue eyes. "I will save them!"

Giving a small smile, Nakajima agreed, "I'm sure you will. You and Subaru have been known to accomplish anything with enough motivation." He winked.

"S-sir!" Tia protested, blushing again. _How is it that all the Nakajima's can make me blush on command!_ She whined in her head, visibly shrinking.

"Alright. Well, off you go Langster, you have an early transport tomorrow!" He waved good-bye to her cheerily before heading back to his desk.

"Good-bye sir," with another salute, Tia left the office and headed back to her own quarters.

Falling back onto her bed she opened up the case file. "Three people missing, all ERS mages from the 245th squadron. The only thing out of place with the teleportation portal was that a tracing spell wasn't cast. A file on the planet Fungala?" She eyed the folder, tossing it aside. "That's next to useless." She looked at the ceiling. "Think, what would Fate have me do first?"

Gripping her head in frustration, she turned onto her side. "Sometimes, all the facts won't be open and nicely presented! That's it. I need to look for more information. Cross Mirage?"

"Yes, Master?"

"Perform a wide scale search for anything related to Unregistered Planet 20095KGI, Fungala, Galla, and known magic repressors in the fourth quadrant."

"Yes, Master. With current search parameters estimated time is twenty hours to completion."

Biting her lip in thought Tia added, "Fine, every five hours compile a report on what was dug up and forward it to my terminal."

"That I can do," Cross Mirage blinked orange.

"And ah, thanks." Tia added.

"It is my purpose to support you, Master."

"Still, thanks for doing all of this." She said decidedly.

"You are welcome."

"Better start packing. My teleport is scheduled at 0530. I am not looking forward to spending five days on a battle cruiser," Tea moaned, pulling out her standard issue duffle bag.

"The teleportation blockade for the surround area makes sense, but really?" she placed several shirts and pants into the bag. Reaching over to the small table beside her bed, she mechanically picked up the picture she took with her everywhere.

Inside of the durable metal frame, a picture of the day she and Subaru shared at Section Six stared back at her. Subaru had Tia in a tight hug, giving a victory sign with her hands while Tia was trying to claw at the offending arm wrapped her waist. With a soft smile, Tia gently placed the picture amidst her clothing to keep it safe during the long journey.

"You had better be okay, you idiot. Only you could waste my time while in a totally different division." She huffed gruffly, wiping the fresh tears from her eyes. Kicking the table and screaming in frustration, Tia landed face first onto her bed. "You have to be okay, Subaru..."

The first thing that came to mind when Subaru awoke was the searing pain shooting through her left arm. Next came the sharp pains that traced her whole body seemingly head to toe. Cracking one teal eye open, a vaulted ceiling with dark wooden rafters came into focus.

"Where am I?" she croaked, her voice hoarse and dry. She jerked back in shock as a pair of bright purple eyes popped out right in front of her face. "Gah!"

The mystery eyes pulled back, belonging to a slender girl that bore a strong resemblance to the elves Subaru had learned of as child. Out of the pitch-black hair that framed her golden face two long and narrow pointed ears popped out. Clothed in a white tunic held together by a purple sash her general appearance screamed 'elf'.

"I'm Subaru Nakajima from the 245th Emergency Relief Squadron of the Time-Space Administration Bureau. Can you please tell me where we are?" Subaru said in the most official voice she could muster. The elf, she had decided on calling the girl, tilted her head to side clearly confused.

"Ano...Do you speak Common?" she asked.

"Ehi nos habli ghallen"

"No match in directory, partner. Unable to match to any language files."

"Mach Caliber?" Subaru brought her right hand up and grasped the pendant. "Where are we?"

"Last coordinates place us on a unregistered planet called Fungala. That is all the information I have at this time."

"Oh!" the golden skinned teenager laughed, "Common I speak little."

Just then, Subaru's stomach let out a loud growl. "Ahaha..." she clutched her stomach with her good hand.

"Food?" the elf asked, patting her own stomach.

"Ah, yes, please," Subaru spoke through a silly grin. She watched the elf start to dance and called out, "I almost forgot to ask. What is your name?"

"Gilos." She pointed to herself.

"Subaru!" the injured woman replied with a smile, pointing to herself as well.

As Gilos disappeared through a curtain, Subaru turned her attention to her current predicament. "Mach Caliber, can you send out an emergency signal?" she asked, sitting up painfully.

"I sent one out as soon you hit the ground. Cannot confirm if signal has been picked up by anyone yet."

Letting out a long breath Subaru looked down. Clad in a white shirt that pulled together in the front with green string, she blushed, feeling oddly modest.

Gilos waltzed in with a small red clay bowl with steam wafting out of it. Kneeling down next to Subaru, she placed the bowl and pulled out a spoonful of rich broth. Blowing on it gently, Gilos brought the spoon up to Subaru's mouth.

"Ahhhh!" she opened her mouth wide demonstrating what she wanted Subaru to do.

"Ano no thanks. I think I can feed my-hmmpf!" Subaru gulped down the hot liquid in surprise.

Dipping the spoon for another run Gilos gave Subaru a smile that seemed oddly fearsome. The look in those purple eyes bore right into her mind.

"Um...Ahhhhh," she said turning an exceptionally pink color.

--

Cross Mirage finished gathering all of the data. "Master, search is now complete."

"Thanks, Cross Mirage." Tia cracked her knuckles, shaking out the tension in her fingers. "Who would have thought that there was so much data just floating around?"

"You should rest for a while, Master," Cross Mirage almost sounded concerned, if a device were even capable of such a feat.

"I know, but we only have four days left until we reach the drop off zone and I still have no idea how to get onto the planet!" Tia mumbled continuing to scan disjointed pieces of data.

"I know, but we only have four days left until we reach the drop off zone and I still have no idea how to actually get on the planet!" Tia mumbled, continuing to scan disjointed pieces of data.

"Your efficiency will go down drastically if you do not rest, Master."

Tia rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands. "I guess a nap wouldn't hurt."

"I will organize the data while you sleep, Master."

Striping off her uniform and hanging it up, Tia crawled onto the brick like mattress. "Thanks, Cross Mirage."

"You are welcome, my Master."

The overly chipper tune that Cross Mirage played woke Tia with a start. "Agh... I forgot to change that, didn't I?" she groaned, burying her head into her pillow. "That obnoxious song is something only Subaru could stand. On second thought, I think Caro would like it too..."

"Master, the data is now reformatted."

"Ugh... alright, I'll get up!" she let out a loud yawn before slumping back to her terminal. "Back to the grind."

The newly organized data was much easier to look over than the previous, daunting amounts of garbled information.

"This can't be right..." Tia clicked on a file titled Personnel Logs. A total of 57 entrees came up. "Why are none of these referenced in the official report?" she asked aloud, biting her lip.

"I do not know. However, they contain a large sum of information," informed Cross Mirage.

Reading through the entrees did not take long, but pooled together a vast amount of information for Tia.

"So," Tia leaned back, "We seem to dealing with...evil little elves with an unknown type of magic?" she quoted from an open file. She shook her head, "This is getting weirder with every turn. A planet with an unknown type of magic within a TSAB designated zone?" she snorted in disbelief, crossing her arms.

Her eyes caught something. "That's odd, the report was written four years ago from today." She clicked on another one checking the time stamp. "And this one happened around the same time five years ago... They all seem to happen during the same time during the year!" she exclaimed happily.

She quickly pulled up a live satellite feed of Fungala. Changing the scanning mode to a magical signature based setting, she gasped in surprise. The whole planet glowed a bright pink color without a single swirl of green, yellow or blue.

"This is impossible, magic always has a counter-balance... but there is none?" Tia whispered in amazement.

"Yes, master. That phenomenon has been cited before in the matron magic theory."

"Matron magic theory?"

"Yes a theory that came out ten years ago that stated that magic was governed by patron and matron magic in obvious reference to a gender gap in magic. It was dismissed by the magical community as a whole, but this was the only example of matron magic that the study could find."

"Arg, another fact left out of the official report! What the hell!" Tia shouted bring her head to rest on her terminal. "Why is the TSAB keeping so much information about this planet in the dark!"

"Master, this is a good thing." Cross Mirage blinked, "Matron magic governs feminine magic."

"Wait a second," Tia flipped back to Personnel Logs. "Of course...!" she reread each name confirming she suspicion.

"Yes, my Master?" Cross Mirage asked.

"Women! The answer all along... has been women!" Tia yelled extremely loudly, proud of what she had discovered.

Two flight deck members were walking by Tia's room when she exclaimed her sudden revelation. One of the young men sighed, "Lost another one to the other side..."

"Man, why are all the hot mages lesbians?"

"I wish I knew pal, I wish I knew."

Subaru gentle kneaded her left arm, forcing the knots to relax. Cautiously, she sniffed the air around herself and gagged a little. It smelt of sweat, blood, antiseptic and body odor.

"Whoa!" She crinkled her nose, covering her nose with her shirt collar.

Checking to make sure that Gilos was sound asleep on her own bed roll, Subaru rolled up the sleeves of the shirt she was wearing to finally inspect her injuries. What she saw made her groan. Her whole left arm looked like a lump of red and purple, while her right one, thanks to Revolver Knuckle, sported only a few scratches. Pulling the hem of the shirt up she saw that her whole torso was covered in thin, deep cuts punctuated by four freshly sewn gashes, and her legs looked a maze of red lines.

"Mach Caliber how did you fare?" she whispered slowly, lowering herself back onto the bed.

"Barrier jacket systems completely destroyed. Revolver Knuckle at 72 operation, roller blades at 64.5 operation. I can still function, partner."

"I'm glad. Thank you for protecting me," Subaru clutched the blue pendant in her hand.

"Don't mention it! I wanted to help you."

"Hey, can we send any messages through all of the waves we found earlier?" Subaru asked quietly.

"I have sent out several distress signals. However, I have gotten no confirmation that any of them were received. I do not know."

"How about short range transmissions? If I ended up here, then the others must have fallen here as well..."

"We can try, partner!"

Subaru created an open telepathic channel. _"Hey, is there anyone else__ out there?" _she called out.

_"Subaru?!" _balked a member of her team, _"Is that you?"_

_"Lily?" _Subaru smiled, _"Lily! Thank goodness you're okay."_

_"Not really, I'm pretty sure I broke my jaw on the way down and I can't move my right leg. Still I fared a lot better than Haruka." _Lily shot back telepathically, even her mental voice sounding strained.

Subaru gave a sympathetic moan. _"How is she?"_

_"Bad,"_ answered Lily. _"__She woke up a few times but she has all the symptoms of a severe concussion. She wouldn't stop vomiting and her pupils are dilated."_

_"Not good..."_ Subaru replied. _"So where are the others?"_

_"I don't know! I can't talk you moron how am I suppose to ask? Besides if no one has zeroed in on our conversation I doubt that there even is anyone else here!"_ Lily snapped angrily.

_"Mou, sorry!" _Subaru spoke dejectedly.

_"Hey, someone is coming in. Shit I think t--t the sign-- being inter--"_

_"Lily?"_ Subaru asked, listening to white noise. _"Lily! What's going on? Answer me, Lily!"_

"Ah, no way!" Subaru punched the air.

"Subaru?" Gilos gave a small yawn. "Problem?"

Jumping in shock, Subaru turned to the small teenager, "Hahaha, no! No problem..."

Shooting the mage a tired look out of one purple eye Gilos turned away from Subaru nestled back into her sheets.

The next morning Subaru woke to Gilos humming a strange song as she lumbered over a large clay pot of water.

Gilos noticed that Subaru was awake and gave her a smile. "Today bath!" she exclaimed happily.

Subaru's face glowed red, "T-thanks..." Gilos kneeled down next to her. "Ano, aren't you leaving?" Subaru asked.

"Subaru hurt, Gilos help." The small women stated soundly reaching out for the green laces that held together Subaru's shirt.

"Hey! No don't do that!" Subaru said pushing the golden hands away and clutching her shirt together.

"Gilos help." The elf said again in a heavier tone, prying pale fingers away from the shirt.

Grunting in surprise Subaru whipped her head around in shock and stared at the elf who was actually able to pry her cybernetically enhanced fingers apart. "How the..." she gasped eyes locking with Gilos's.

"I-I-I ahhh," Subaru adverted her eyes. "I can bath myself..." she mumbled scooting further away. Because of her adverted gaze she missed the flash of anger on Gilos face.

"Su-ba-ruuuuu," Gilos whined leaning forwards with a pout.

"Nooo-ah." Subaru shoot her a quick glace and flushed again. "Really it's fine."

Gilos gently cupped Subaru's face with a soft hand and turned it towards her. "I help...?" she asked again. Subaru's resolve weakened at the hopeful look in her eyes.

"Mou, fine you can wash my back." Subaru hide behind her curtain of purple hair.

"Mh hmm!" Gilos nodded scooting back a bit to allow Subaru to remove her shirt. After that was done Gilos reached into the pot and pulled out a washcloth, but instead of clear water flowing from it a dark green liquid spilled out.

"Help heal and bath!" Gilos said taking Subaru's arm and dabbing it.

"Gah cold!" Subaru tried to extract her arm, but the grip was like steel. "I said my back- hnn oh that feels really good..." she moaned as a cool tingling ran through her body. The cloth was wrung out again and returned to her body.

"Eppp! No nonononono you can't do that! Agh oh get off me...ITTTTAAAAA!"

Tiana looked up, "Did you hear something Cross Mirage?"

"No my master."

"Hmm odd?" she stuck her pinky in her ear, "Guess I am hearing things..."


	2. The Escaped

Shipwrecked

By: XBlue-PhoenixX

"Master, equipment request granted. You will receive one parachute, a high powered emergency signal transponder, one fully loaded survival packet, and a your escort will be Flight Sergeant Yumi in a model TS-19 helicopter transport."

"Thanks. Now all we have to do is wait two more days to reach the planet, that is when things will getting tough."

"Till then let's continue to go over the data. I have this strange feeling I can't shake."

"Master?"

"Yes, Cross Mirage?"

"I think you should be honest with yourself..."

Tia glared at her device. "I am honest with myself!"

"Really?" It asked, in an almost teasing tone.

"Gah, I am going to go get something to eat!" Tia huffed, throwing her chair back. She glared at the two flight deck crewmembers. "What are you looking at!"

"N-nothing, ma'am!" they answered in unison, shrinking away from the anger enforcer.

Storming down to the canteen she grabbed a plate and loaded it high with noodles. Flinging it onto the table, she slammed herself down with a huff. Luckily no one else was in there, then again it was three a.m.

Tia put her face into her hands and sighed. "This has to stop. I can't keep this up." she stabbed her noodles uselessly. "Everyone seems to know how I feel but her..." she twirled some noodles onto her fork. "But what if she doesn't feel that same way?" she took a bite, chewed and swallowed. "I could lose my best friend." Tia placed her fork on her plate and pushed it away, staring at the plain blue table.

"Though..." she mused, "Subaru would probably be her stupidly kind self and try to fix everything. Sure things would be VERY awkward for a while but Subaru would be too stubborn to let our friendship end there."

She drummed her fingers on the table. "No!" She slammed her hand down. "I couldn't do that to her. Subaru...Subaru is too good for that; for me."

Picking up her plate she scraped all of the left overs into the trash and made her silent march back to her temporary room.

* * *

"Subaru? Hey Subaru open the door!" Lily slurred through her painful jaw.

Quickly running over to the door Subaru swung it open, and Lily pushed her way inside before slamming the door shut with her back. Leaning against the door she looked around nervously.

"What in the world...?" Subaru cast a blank look at her friend. Lily's light blue hair was styled in intricate braids that fell down her back and she dressed in a long, purple, sleeveless robe that had a golden belt with matching golden gloves and boots.

"Don't say a word!" Lily she mouthed, sluggishly.

"Lily you can talk!" Subaru pointed out, same clueless stare on her face.

Grunting Lily replied, "They gave me this seaweed face mask last night that healed me right up. Never mind that we need a plan!" she peeked out the window cautiously. "I think that they are up to something..."

Subaru slinked over next to her. "Why do you think that?"

Lily slide down to the ground as a group of armored elves walked past. "They seem to be decorating the town for a celebration or something like that. I haven't seen so many of the elves out at one time before, there also seem to be a lot of small cooking fires."

Subaru nodded in agreement, "So you think they are having a festival or something like that?"

"Maybe. Whatever it is, I have a bad feeling about it. It can't to happy a celebration if it requires this many guards..."

Subaru whispered dramatically, "You don't think that they would...you know."

"Know what?" Lily asked leaning in.

"Sacrifice the captives!" Subaru hissed dramatically, contorting her face.

BAM! "Don't even joke about things like that! For we know they could very well be preparing side dishes to go along with us!" Lily rubbed her knuckles that she had just smashed against Subaru's head.

"Owww," Subaru rubbed the welt on her head. "I was just kidding, geez."

"Kidding or not that is a possibility. In primitive tribes like this one human sacrifice is more common than uncommon. Be on your toes none the less." Lily whispered pulling out a piece of charcoal she hid in her robe. Moving aside a pillow she made a crude drawing, "This is the village, or at least what I have seen of it. Here," she pointed near the house labeled with an S, "starts the forest. I would say that our best bet is sneaking under the cover of the night a tomorrow evening."

"Whoa hold on there!" Subaru held up a hand, "Why are you in such a rush?"

Lily blushed and looked away, "The elves here are starting to really creep me out...but I have a valid reason!" she stated defensively.

"And what is that?" Subaru asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Ah, I'll tell you later..." Lily said dismissively.

"No, tell me now or I call off any plans." Subaru said, crossing her arms in a pout.

Hanging her head defeat Lily spoke barely audible, "Some of my...ah...caretakers...um...have been...wooing me! There I said it!"

Subaru repeated what she heard slower to get decipher the words, "Woo, to woo? Oh crap," she paled looking at her friend. "Still that doesn't mean we should just up and go..."

"Subaru," Lily sighed blushing bright red, "The reason I think we should leave is more complicated than that. They also...they did something to save Haruka, but it she seems different. It is kind of hard to explain. When they found out that she and I had snuck out, well, a portal swallowed her up."

"Can't be, how on Mid-Childa could they do that? What did they do to her?" Subaru asked in surprise.

Lily scratched her cheek shyly, "They did stuff."

"Stuff?"

"You know stuff..."

"I am not getting where this is going..."

"They had...ah...intimate contact!"

"So they talked to each other?" Subaru asked innocently.

"God Subaru are you really that dense. They kissed! Spell it with me k-i-s-s-e-d!"

"Oh..."

"Of course what did you think I meant?" Lily asked, peering at her friend.

"Ahahaha, n-nothing at all. But, Haruka just went along with it?

"Yeah...She knew that she wasn't going to make it without proper medical attention and when the told her about this 'god cure' she took them up on it...They brought in one of the older elves, she looked to be in twenties. She was wearing a crown of sorts," she rubbed her eyes. Settling down she looked downcast, "Then this morning Haruka was up and about again, not totally healed mind you but certainly alive. She also has this odd mark on the palm of her hand..."

"You think that the elf is the one that made the portal?" Subaru asked. "But how did she known where Haruka was, unless the mark is actually some really advance form of tracing magic?"

"Could be but I doubt it. Sir James didn't pick up anything any signs that the mark was magical in any way," she referred to the device that was wrapped her wrist.

The two froze as they heard more people calling out Lily's name. "I had better sneak back, meet in the forest just behind your hut at midnight our time tomorrow night alright," she crawled over to another window stepping out of it.

That night during a dinner Subaru started talking to Gilos, asking her general questions that she could easily answer.

Taking another swallow of broth, glad to be feeding herself for a change, Subaru turned her attention to Gilos. "So are you getting ready for a party?" she asked vaguely.

"Pah-ty? Yes! We have week pah-ty start day after now." Gilos affirmed slurping down her own bowl of broth.

"What is the party for?" Subaru inquired, inconspicuously.

"Pah-ty for Galla's to make life bond," she answered slowly while forming the right words.

"Life bonds..." Subaru looked into her bowl. "Like marriage?" she asked to see if Gilos knew of the word.

"The word! Yes like the word," Gilos smiled happily. "Galla's mother moon give people of Fungala choice to bond one time a year. Pah-ty!"

Subaru felt a bead of sweat gather on her brow, 'Thought so, oh man this isn't good at all!' she mentally cried.

"How do they um...bond?" she ducked her face down.

"A, um. Haha No know word." she laughed before puckering her lips and making a smacking sound. "Also..." Gilos had the good graces to only blush and look away.

"Oh CRAP!" Subaru wailed in her mind. _"Lily, come on Lily answer me!" _she called out telepathically.

_"What now Subaru?"_ Came the tired response.

_"Whatever you do don't kiss anyone!"_ she practically screamed over the link.

_"What, why the hell would I do that, you pervert!"_ Lily sputtered angrily.

_"Hey why do you have to always call me names?" _Subaru whined,_ "I think that Haruka is in more trouble than we thought...she's bound to that elf lady!"_

_"Bound, what the hell?"_ Lily asked sitting up.

_"Um, haha,"_ Subaru spoke meekly. _"This party-thing they are setting up for, its find life partners!"_

_"WHAT?"_ Lily looked around wildly and covered her mouth with a pillow. 'So that is why they tried to seduce me...' she gasped in horror in her mind.

_"Guys I can hear you, ya' know?"_ entered Haruka into the conversation. _"And I think that well, I am going to stay here."_

_"No way, we can't leave you behind."_ Lily immediately barked.

_"Look I don't expect you to understand this but trust me, I think my place is here." _Haruka solemnly spoke. _"Fila has taught me a lot and I think I can really help the people here. Saving a whole race instead of just one person/animal at a time. I can really help these people out."_

_"Is that what you really want?"_ Subaru asked.

_"Yes, it is. These people gave me my life back, it's only fair I spend it helping them..."_

Lily choked back a sniffle, _"Fine. Subaru the plan is still up for tomorrow."_

_"Nee Haruka."_ Subaru sighed, _"I'm going to miss you..."_

_"Me too! It won't be the same without you," _Lily teared up again.

Haruka interrupted her,_ "Awe guys I am going to miss you both as well, but you're right, you should leave as early as possible. Be careful you two. The reason so many people are armed right now it because you have to 'prove' that you are strong enough to live on your own to avoid being marked. Haul some serious ass out of here tomorrow. The people here are very kind but very suspicious, if they catch you running away they won't be as nice._" Haruka commanded firmly.

_"Thanks for the heads up,"_ Subaru cut the link, blinking tears out of her own eyes.

"Eat?" Gilos asked, pointing at the still half full bowl of broth.

"I'm not that hunger," Subaru stated blandly before laying down on her bed.

Tia sat in the helicopters cargo bay, trying her best to not be thrown into a wall. "Sorry about, the atmosphere here has more magical debris than normal. Tighten your seat belt! This is going to be bumpy ride!"

"Good thing I don't get motion sick easily..." she groaned as the ship lurked again, sending her stomach into her throat.

"It will be alright Master!" Cross Mirage encouraged, "We are almost there!"

Tia nodded, readjusting her parachutes straps. "Have you confirmed the unknown magical signatures?" she asked.

"Yes Master, large quantities are present, we cannot use magic at this time."

"So the reports were true..." she hummed.

"Yeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaa! Drop off it three minutes ma'am, be ready for the hatch to open!" The over zealous female pilot blared over the speakers.

Tia gulped nervously. She hadn't parachuted since the days in the magical academy.

"Okay here we are, good hunting ma'am!"

"Thanks..." she trailed off before jumping out of the open hatch. She swallowed a nervous chuckle as doubts about not being able to use her magic set in full force. Wind whistled through her hair and her black uniform hugged her body as she fell lower and lower and the lush green ground became more and more focused, defining into large trees.

Tugging hard on her cord, Tia's whole body jolted as the chute launched and drastically slowed her descent. Now if only there was a place to land. Unfortunately, all Tia could see for miles around were large, bulky trees shooting up from the ground.

"Perfect..." She pulled her legs in and tucked her chin down, preparing for a crash landing. Sliding into the trees her parachute was immediately snagged, jerking her to halt twenty feet in the air. "Stupid trees..." she tugged on the quick release on the harness and landed gracefully on the ground.

"Time to get searching, there should be a village about twelve kilometers due north of here." Tia smiled, "I am coming Subaru."

* * *

The day went relatively quite compared to what Subaru had been expecting. Sure a few people had been slung through the windows of her temporary home, and fighting could be heard at all hours of the day, but so far she had been able to sit back and just enjoy watching elves duke it out with each. It seemed that a lot of elves wished to remain independent, or, that several people wanted to bond with the same person and fought it out. In the end it reminded of her wrestling she used to watch with Vita, with just a bit more blood.

That was until night began to fall.

All hell broke as people fell to the ground in passionate embraces, or in vivid pain after being struck down. Gilos hadn't mentioned that people preferred to cement it with the more mature option. The most out of place thing however, was the casual courting that sprung up amidst the chaos. The smell of blood, flowers, and sex filled the air.

_"Ah Lily I think we should go now..."_ Subaru chuckled nervously, watching the mayhem.

_"For once we agree on something, damn it make for the forest!"_ Lily did her best to not sound panicked.

Subaru stood up and slowly snuck back into the house.

"Subaru..." Gilos stepped forth timidly, holding a large bouquet of red flowers. A large dinner had been set out, and candles light the room creating a nice romantic atmosphere. Gilos blushed heavily, extending the flowers.

Subaru froze to the floor in shock. All the color drained from her face as Gilos shyly approached her and placed the flowers into Subaru's stiff arms then backed up a bit. 'MOVE!' Subaru screamed at her body mentally, but it seemed like all cognoscente function had been disabled. She watched in horror as purple eyes glided closer and closer. Subaru's vision blurred, purple eyes flashing blue for a moment. 'Tia...'

"No!" Subaru pushed Gilos face away from hers roughly. "I can't...Gilos, I already have someone." Subaru asserted with a small smile, "I would wait till the end of time for her. I'm sorry."

The bashful look evaporated immediately, replaced by a murderous glare. "No. Gilos fight for Subaru!" she growled menacingly.

Subaru stepped back nervously, "Hold a second-"

Gilos pulled a long spear off the wall, and stepped forward. "Fight!" she barked, Subaru barely had time enough to dodge the attack.

"Now wait- Hey you could seriously hurt some- Are you serious?!" Subaru panted, dodging wings and gabs. She crashed backwards through the door to avoid a strike to the head. Scampering up quickly she made a mad dash towards the forest.

"Ahhhhhh!" she screamed, blazing through the circus of elves like a lunatic. Ducking and waving through the masses of people she cast a look over her shoulder and picked up speed, seeing as Gilos was chasing her.

"No no no no no no this cannot be happening!" she hurdled over a small brick wall with small tears in her eyes.

Maneuvering was easy, seeing as Subaru had chosen to continue to wear the lengthy shirt she first awoke in, but it provided little to no protection again trees, flying debris, and barreling people. Leaping over a couple that had found their way to ground, Subaru finally entered the dark sanctum of the forest. Subaru could hear the sounds of a pursuit, and did not take the time to look back as she redoubled her efforts to run through the tangled forest floor.

Tree limbs cut through the thin material of the shirt, creating fresh cuts along Subaru's body. Blinded by the sudden drop in light, Subaru ran without direction using her arms to feel her way through. Making a quick right Subaru ran head on into a slanted log. She gritted her teeth through the pain, she licked the blood that pooled on her lips that flowed down from her forehead.

"Hurry, partner!" Mach Caliber flashed, picking up vibrations. Staggering to her feet once more, eyes adjusted enough to make out general outlines, Subaru continued to flee.

Scurrying behind a large tree Subaru crouched down low and listened. Not more than a few seconds later did the sounds of Gilos cutting through the forest reach her ears. As the sounds grew louder she held her breath, and only after they had totally disappeared did she exhale.

She looked at her surrounds. "Mach Caliber...Where are we?" she sighed.

"I do not know, partner."

"Mou. We are soooo lost."


	3. The Rescued

"How can we be lost?" Tia barked, looking at the trees that looked exactly like the trees from several hours ago. Night had already fallen and she had yet to reach the village like she had planned.

"Master, the composition of the land has more magnetic materials than we thought, so the compass isn't working." Cross Mirage stated the facts.

"I don't care!" Tia grabbed her hair in frustration. "Let's head back to the cave we found about a half a mile back to make camp. That should keep us sheltered from any bad weather."

"Good thinking, Master!"

Tia turned around and began to retrace her steps. She swung her flashlight in large sweeps to deter any animals, as well as to keep an eye out for possible threats. After several hundred feet she stopped her scanning, and held it steady on a freshly beaten path. A piece of blood stained cloth dangling from a nearby branch caught her eye.

She reached out and gingerly pinched it, feeling a cool dampness. "It's fresh..."

She wiped her fingertips on her pants. The narrow light cut though the darkness, illuminating the path. Face grim with determination, Tia followed the beaten trail. Her previous deduction that the person was not too far off was quickly proven wrong as the path simply keep on going. "They must have been making really good time," she concluded. "Running from something maybe, the same thing that injured them?" she mused to herself, increasing the speed of her scans.

A little over a half an hour passed as Tia grew more and more weary. She had found several places she deduced to be rest stops, because of the accumulation of blood spatters on trees or rocks, each sight still fresh. Ahead she could hear the faint roar of a waterfall.

"Whoa!" she stumbled backwards, looking over the cliff that had suddenly appeared. She gulped as rocks clattered down the jagged edge that lined the waterfall. "That forest must have insulated the sound," she peeped over curiously, before kicking a large rock over. She couldn't hear a splash. "That's a long way to fall..."

"What shall we do, master?"

Tia rooted around her survival pack and pulled out a long length of rope. "I'm going to rappel down. Whoever we followed had to of fallen and they might still be alive!"

Securing the rope and a quick release to a sturdy tree, Tia laced the rope through the hops on her parachute harness. Slipping on some thick gloves she positioned herself at the edge and hopped over into the dark abyss. The cliff was slick was moss and wet mold, but Tia made her down its surface without incident. After gathering her rope and stuffing it into her bag-pack she set off along the shoreline, flashlight in tow.

With each step her shoes made a loud squishing sound, sinking into the marshy soil.

Her light caught something white amongst the dark soil. "There!" she scurried over. The person, obviously female, was laying face first on the bank still half submerged in water.

The flashlight clattered to the ground as Tia slipped her arms under the unconscious girl's torso and pulled her further onto shore. Rolling the rather heavy woman onto her side she walked back and grabbed her flashlight.

"Let's see who we have here," she shone the light onto the pale body, cringing at the large cuts and bruises that covered their legs.

The light made its way up, revealing a torn and tattered shirt that was slicked to a shapely body. Then she saw it: the glint of Mach Caliber shining in the pale yellow light, the muddy, blood soaked purple hair, the long streams of red liquid dripping off of a pale chin.

"S-s-Subaru?" she whimpered falling to her knees. "No..." she sobbed reaching out and pressing her fingers against Subaru's neck. She felt a faint pulse.

"Idiot!" Her body wretched violently as loud sobs broke out, both of relief and worry. She wiped the blood off of Subaru's chin with her hand. "Why the hell did you keep running?"

Quickly the med kit that was held in her sack was brought out and opened. Rushing to the river Tia filled a plastic bag full of the crisp liquid to clean up the larger wounds. With the flashlight perched in her mouth she began to dab away blood and mud then sealing the cleaned cuts with large gauze pads. She repeatedly had to stop to clear her vision of tears. Propping Subaru up against a large boulder she peeled the tattered shirt off of Subaru's body, and then covered the shivering woman with her jacket. With soft probes Tia felt across Subaru's scale searching for the wound. After locating the large cut she wrapped her friend's head with a bandage.

"There." Tia stood up and yawned. Marching into the forest a little ways she happened upon a dead tree, and broke off large chunks of wood. Returning to her make-shirt campsite she built a small fire pit and made a fire.

The crackle of dead wood filled the night. Tia sat down across the fire from her friend. "I found you." She smiled lightly, curling up to go to sleep.

The blue-eyed woman woke with a start. She sat up groggily, looking for what brought her out of her slumber. She heard a whimper and small cry come from Subaru. The taller girl was twitching and turning in her sleep. Tia threw a few more logs onto the fire, than scooted over to Subaru. Face glowing a bright pink blush she patted the other girl's shoulder awkwardly. Turning in her sleep Subaru's hand reached up and grabbed Tia's, while her arm snaked out and pulled Tia closer, cuddling the enforcer.

Tia looked up shyly, her face inches from Subaru's. Reaching her free hand up she caressed Subaru's pale cheek with her thumb, a fire burning inside of her body at the contact.

Subaru's head lollopped down, resting against Tia's. "Tia..." she called out in her sleep.

The Enforce swallow hard, mouth gone pasty. Her eyes flickered between peaceful shuteyes, and full soft lips. "Subaru..." she whispered. In the orange light of the fire, she closed the distance between Subaru and herself, pressing a single chaste kiss against unresponsive lips.

Tia felt the arm around her waist tighten, and pulled back startled. Gazing down at her through half open eyes Subaru smiled lazily.

"I knew you couldn't resist me," she joked weakly. Tia tried to jump out of her arms, but Subaru held her in place. "You can't kiss and run like that Tia. It is rude."

"Pretending to be asleep is rude!" Tia growled, wiggling in the iron grip.

"I wasn't pretending. My prince charming's kiss woke me up..."

Tia frazzled. "Idiot, let me go!"

"No."

"Su-ba-ru." Tia fixed her best glare onto her face.

"You're cute when you act all tough and angry." Subaru murmured, tucking a stray strand of orange hair away. "Oh wow." She blushed, realizing she had said that out loud. "That rock must have hit me really hard on the head..." She felt the soft bandage.

"Rock?" Tia asked, glare forgotten.

Subaru shifted so that Tia was lying against her. "Yeah. I was running away from Gilos when I fell over a waterfall. I landed okay, but this big rock came and hit me out of nowhere. I guess it knocked me out." Subaru answered, leaning back against the rock.

Tia winced, and felt a sharp pang of guilt. "Wait a second. What is Gilos?" Tia asked.

"Gilos is one of the elves that lives here," Subaru averted her gaze away from Tia's.

Tia shot her a blank glare, "And why were you running away from her?"

Subaru gulped, "She was trying to battle me..."

"Subaru, what did you do?" Tia asked accusingly.

"It's not like I lead her on or anything!" She denied fervently, than paled. "I meant to say-"

Tia cut her off and demanded, "Explain everything to me. Now."

So Subaru told her long story to her friend, skimming over the embarrassing details of her recuperation, explaining the festival, and telling her about the two others that had ended up on Fungala.

"Gilos said that the moon gives the Galla's the ability to bond for life. I am pretty sure that is an adaptation the Galla's developed. When she came after me I ran and you know the rest." She ended her story.

Tia let out a sigh of relief. "I was worried for a second there that I was bound to you forever," she huffed, trying to sound callous. 'But why do I almost feel disappointed...' she thought to herself.

"We should go looking for Lily tomorrow. When did you say that the ship was leaving?" Subaru asked, missing the forlorn look on Tia's face.

Tia rested her head against Subaru's collar. "The day after tomorrow. If we don't signal before then, the ship will message HQ.

"We have time, that's good." Subaru hummed, wrapping her arms around Tia's waist.

The crackle of the fire filled the night air, casting orange shadows onto the two resting companions. Tia fought back a faint blush as she snuggled closer to Subaru.

"You idiot..." she whispered into the night, clutching onto the jacket that covered Subaru.

Subaru looked down confused, "What Tia?"

"Never scare me like that again!" Tia looked up, her eyes burning with anger.

"Tia..." Subaru gazed into water blue eyes, "I didn't mean to."

Tia huffed and wrapped her arms Subaru's neck, pulling her into a hug. "I am still taking care of you after all these years, you big pain." She whispered gently.

Subaru chuckled softly, "You can't get rid of me that easily!"

Tia pulled back enough to lock eyes with Subaru. "You always tell me to follow my heart, even back when we were training." Tia chuckled a bit, her eyes glazing with tears, "but I don't know if I should this time."

Subaru reached up and rested her hand on Tia's check, gently caressing it with her thumb. "Whatever it is Tia, I am sure that you can do it because...because you're one of the most amazing people I know."

Tia blushed and stammered, "S-subaru stop it."

Subaru gave her a slow smile, "There is just so much about you that I think is amazing," she moved her thumb to Tia's trembling lips, "The way you take command of any situation, your ability to set your mind to one task and get it done, but not only work. You have done so much for me. I would have been lost without you during our academy years, and probably would have never met Nanoha-san again."

With her face glowing Tia looked away. Subaru shifted underneath the pig-tailed woman.

"Tia," Subaru blushed as well, "Let me make you happy. I want to be there for you, like you were for me."

Tia let out a choked sob, wiping her eyes roughly with her arm. "Subaru..."

With blurry vision, Subaru gazed into deep blue eyes, "Tia, I want to be with you. As more than just a friend."

Tia's arms quickly found their way around Subaru's neck, pulling the injured women into a soft, salty kiss. Subaru moaned in response, her hands lacing themselves into soft, orange hair.

Tia pulled back, causing Subaru to pout. "Why didn't you say so sooner?" she asked, flicking Subaru on the shoulder.

Subaru laughed, smiling at the tough-girl mask that Tia wore. "Let's just say that being here opened my eyes!"

"I'm glad." Tia nestled her face in the crock of Subaru's neck, clutching the black enforcers jacket she had used to cover Subaru up.

Subaru cast a withering glance at the horizon. "We should sleep so that we can start searching for Lily tomorrow."

"Mhh." Tia agreed, pulling the thin blanket she had been using over the two of them.

As morning began to dawn, the silence of the woods was broken by the sounds of someone beating through the forest, near the water's edge.

Tia and Subaru both awoke to the rustling noise. Tia quietly extracted herself from Subaru and stalked over to her bag, pulling out a small stun gun.

"Tia be careful." Subaru warned, pushing herself off of the ground slowly.

Taking a calming breath Tia closed her eyes and listened, following the intruder with the small electrical weapon. When the sound was close enough, her eyes snapped open, her gun arm whipping around, pressing against the intruders chest.

"H-hey wai-" Lily sputtered, before screaming out as a large sum of electricity ran through her body.

Subaru limped over and gasped, "Tia! You just electrocuted Lily!"

Tia chuckled nervously before kneeling down next to twitching girl. Pressing her fingers to Lily's throat she confirmed, "Her heart rate and breathing are fine. Oh I am so sorry Lily-san!"

Lily opened her eyes and groaned, flinging her arm over them. "What the hell was that for?" she demanded.

Tia stood up and huffed, "Well if you had announced yourself than I wouldn't have wasted a charge on you!"

"Whoa hold on a second!" Lily sat up, "Your Subaru's crush! What are you doing here?"

Subaru frazzled, "S-shut-up Lily!"

Tia turned to hide her own blush, "I am here to rescue the three missing members of the 245th division. Enforcer Tiana Lanster." Tia finished.

Lily gave a sigh of relief, and then paled. "Oh please tell me you have more weapons than that." She whimpered.

"Lily..." Subaru asked nervously, "Are you being...followed?"

Lily went white as a sheet. "No, not really. At least I don't think they were following me."

Tia looked around nervously, stepping closer to the boulder. "I need to know what we are up against here."

Lily joined the two women against the large boulders. "I saw that girl that was giving you baths Subaru," Tia shot Subaru a death glare, "she was leading about ten other elves towards this river."

Subaru froze, "She was?"

Tia tackled Subaru and pinched her face hard, "What did you do to that girl Subaru! Huh?"

"Naf-fing! I did naf-fing!" Subaru whined, tears pooling in her eyes.

Lily wasn't very amused, "Um, when you two are done flirting, I think we should run." She deadpanned.

All three of them froze and quieted. Several of the shrubs across the river shook violently, and voices wafted out of them. Tia quickly helped Subaru up, and Lily grabbed all of the scattered supplies into her arms before all three of them dove behind the boulders. Backs pressed into the cold stone no one dared to breathe.

Tia reached into the bag, wincing as the pebbles made a crunching noise. Slowly she flipped open the control panel of the emergency transponder and typed in the five digit code. The box started to flash orange, indicating that it was operational.

Looking up she flashed her companion's two fingers followed by a clenched fist, indicating that it would be twenty minutes till the transport arrived. The two rescue mages nodded, settling against the stone.

From what they were able to hear, the elves had decided to check out the other bank of the river first, which meant that they had some time to plan.

"_Subaru, Lily."_ Tia looked them in the eyes. _"Neither of you can use your magic, right?"_

Both women nodded again. Tia cast a glance at Subaru, _"Can you..."_

Subaru shook her head sadly, _"No can do. Even that can't put out enough energy."_

Tia bit her lip in thought. _"If we could distract them, change their focus, that should buy us enough time to be picked up."_

Subaru rummaged through the bag, and pulled out a sole flash grenade.

Lily silently hit her forehead. "Well a lot of good that does us..."

Tiana reached over and grabbed the grenade. "No, we can use this to get them down river!" Quickly pulling out the rope, Tia tied the pin of the grenade to a small bit of rope.

Without a single 'word' passed, Subaru took the grenade and threw it into the stream, a small plop echoing in their silence. Tia silently counted out how much rope passed through her hands, then at about ten meters stopped the rope.

Loud shouting could be heard as the flash grenade dazzled the troop of elves.

Lily peered stealthy around the boulder, and gave them a thumb up. With a sigh of relief Subaru rested more comfortable against the boulder.

"I am glad Tia was here!" The owner of Mach Caliber exclaimed, laughing off some stress.

Lily nodded in agreement, "We would have been fish food if she weren't here."

Tia growled, "Could we not talk about me in third person? I am right here you know..."

All of the girls froze, as dark shadow joined the shadow cast from the boulder. Creaking her neck around slowly Subaru winced at the sight. Atop the boulder, spear in hand, stood Gilos, who looked like she was ready to kill.

"Oh fuck!" Subaru whined, rolling out of the way of the oncoming spear. "What did I do to deserve this?"

"Language!" Tia warned, taking up a defensive position.

Subaru puffed her bangs out of her eyes, eyeing Gilos wearily. "I don't want to have to fight Gilos!"

The elf scoffed, "Subaru must!"

With a grunt of pain Subaru hit the ground hard, pinned down by the enraged woman. "Stop it please!" Subaru cried out, her eyes lining with tears. "Gilos I care for you, but not the way you want me to!"

Gilos shuddered, shaking her raven locks side to side, "I just want Subaru happy, all Gilos care about!"

Subaru gazed up, tears flowing from her eyes. "Gilos…"

"Subaru," purple eyes, drifted closer and closer, but this time Subaru couldn't find the strength to push the girl back, her body too tired and hurt.

The haze that shrouded Gilos eyes cleared a bit, staring innocently, confused, into teal ones. Her face pulled back, turning her head around the golden skinned woman felt her neck, where a small dart was embedded in her skin. Several feet away stood Tia, a small dart gun in hand.

Subaru hurriedly caught Gilos in her arms as she slumped over, her body going numb. Purple eyes, sweet and childish stared up. Subaru brought her hand up to hold the elf's head up, but the younger woman caught her hand and focused on it.

"Too late…" she whispered, poking the hand gently, "Too late," and she passed out, tears welling up in her eyes.

Tia looked away, the gun rattling in her hands. "It was just a sedative."

Lily walked over and helped move Gilos off of Subaru, and laid her onto a blanket on the gravel. "The copter should be here soon," she commented, the heavy emotions in the air stifling her voice.

Subaru and Tia never met each other's gaze the remaining time they had before the transport arrived. Climbing into the helicopter, Subaru gazed out over the landscape and sighed.

"Enforcer Langster reporting ma'am. Two of the three missing persons were recovered. The third one was unlocatable." Tia reported crisply. The Commander on the side nodded solemnly before cutting off the transmission.

The ride home was silent.

Two weeks later, the two women had not spoken a word to each other. Tia throw herself onto her bunk, glad to back on Mid Childa, even if it was only for a week. The night sky was crisp and clear, and the moon light beaming down warmly unto the room.

Tia crossed her arms over her face, and let out another sigh. "Why did things end that way…?" She winced, the memory of Subaru standing in silence, offering no explanation of what had transpired. Tia reached her slender hands upward, reaching aimlessly at the sky.

The moonlight slide further into the room, resting on her bunk. Tia turned her right hand around then stopped. Sitting up she looked closely at her hand, a faint blue mark rested in the middle of her palm.

"Stupid pens…" she stood up, walking up to the small sink in her room. Scrubbing her hands with soap she rinsed them off, but the mark had only grown darker. Two concentric circles with a starburst coming out of them.

Blue eyes widened and Tiana darted over to her window, staring outside at the full moon. "The moon..." she held her hand out into the moonlight, watching the small mark glow softly.

On the other side of the planet Subaru was in process of digging through rubble, trying to locate some artifacts that had been trapped in a store house during an earth quake. Mach Caliber was fully set-up, giving her additional strength the shift through the cement boulders.

"Mou, this is taking forever!" she cried, wiping her brow with her sleeve. She leaned back to unkink her back, and fell over backwards at what she saw; a swirling blue portal.

"Holy crap!" she cried, digging her Revolver Knuckle covered fingers into the ground, the portal sucking her in a gush of air. With a scream she slide into the portal, and fell into its abyss.

Subaru fell out of the portal and crash landed hard onto something soft.

Rubbing her head she looked around, "Ouch, what in the world?" She felt the ground under her move, and then mumble angrily. "Wah! I am so sorry!" Subaru cried, scuttling off of her 'landing site'. Underneath her was a TSAB agent, a tangled mess of night clothes had slide up and covered her head, revealing a toned stomached.

"Are you okay? I am so sorry, are you hurt at all?" Subaru fussed, releasing her set-up to be in her normal uniform.

The mysterious women finally pulled her shirt back over her head, revealing a very angry, very pissed off Tiana.

"T-t-tia?" Suabru paled.

"Subaru!" Tia grappled with Subaru, dragging her into the light cast into the room. Holding the taller girls hand out she waited. A small stain grew, darkening until it became a dark blue mark.

Subaru watched in amazement, "Huh, what is that?" she asked, pulling her hand back.

Tia shook violently, "How..."

"No way!" Subaru cried, grabbing Tiana's right hand. She looked back and forth between the two for several moments, and then looked up at Tia.

"Is this?"

"I think so."

Subaru stood in silence for a moment, and then let out a choked sob. Tia looked up bewildered. Her heart beat violently, Subaru was upset that this had happened?

"What is wrong, Subaru?" she asked tentatively.

Subaru looked up, a large grin plastered on her face, "Nothing. As a matter of fact, Tia," Subaru pulled the smaller woman against herself, smiling into red hair, "I have never been happier."


End file.
